Where workers will stay when construction gets under way for a wind farm in the south part of the county is anyone’s guess. Few RV campsites are available in the county. Building permits are not yet granted for the Expedition Wind Farm project, but developer Blake Johnson said Expedition hopes to start tower construction in early spring. Source: Marion County RECORD

Marion city councilmen got an up-close look at two new charging stations for electric cars Monday. The chargers, at the west edge of the Historic Elgin Hotel parking lot, have already been used for an electric car owned by Kansas Power Pool. The car, in town for the weekend and driven in the Holly Jolly Christmas parade by council member Chris Costello, took only a short time to recharge after it was driven from Wichita to Marion. Source: Marion County RECORD

John Bichelmeyer eyed Tampa’s the old lumber building on Main St. and fell a little more in love with its potential every day he walked by. A native of Kansas small towns, Bichelmeyer’s job building wind farm turbines with RES had him traveling from New York, to Canada, and the very bottom of Texas, until he blew into Tampa about year ago. Not really intending to stay, Bichelmeyer surprised himself by buying the rundown structure, rescuing it, and moving in along with girlfriend Michelle Wilson. Source: Marion County RECORD

Peabody will be taking contest entries for an updated city logo, and councilman Lindsay Hutchison is wasting no time getting the ball rolling. Entries are due by Dec. 15 to be approved by the council Dec. 28, and the new logo will be rolled out in January, according to Hutchison’s proposed plan. “It would have been great to do that in March when everybody was stuck at home and they could just color pictures for the whole day,” she said. “We don’t necessarily have to retire the logo we have currently but we need something that has fewer colors and less [...]

Florence’s standards board is mailing notices to 30 properties not in compliance with Florence city codes, according to standards board member Darla Spencer, but there are two properties that especially concern her. The homes, one on 6th St. and the other on 7th St., are in poor condition and do not have running water or sewage, Spencer said during Monday’s city council meeting. “We felt like there had to be an ordinance that it’s in violation of,” she said. “I don’t know how someone can live in town at a property that doesn’t have city sewer or water.” Source: Marion County [...]

After a year living in Marion County, new Peabody-Burns third-grade teacher Cindy Ziesemer feels like she has found her hometown, 2,000 miles from where she grew up. A native of Dallas, Oregon, Ziesemer enjoys the feeling of a small school district, and a county with Mennonite heritage. “Dozens of the family names are the same, and people have relatives here and there,” she said. “It’s fascinating. I felt like I was coming home.” Source: Marion County RECORD

Police around Marion County have had an adventurous month of animal-control incidents. Marion and Hillsboro police are dog-catchers by necessity. Their communities have no official positions for the job. Peabody has a part-time dog-catcher, but if the dog-catcher is not working, it falls to police to handle issues like loose dogs, police chief Bruce Burke said. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

Thirty-five people wished retiring Hillsboro city administrator Larry Paine a warm farewell at a reception Monday at Hillsboro city hall. Others online joined the celebration. “We’re here to celebrate a lifetime, not just 12 years of public service,” mayor Lou Thurston said. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

Peabody is finding ways to capitalize on a shifting environment of recreation activities, in part by purchasing unused pool cleaner from Hillsboro. Since Hillsboro isn’t opening its pool this year and won’t need its two pallets of pool cleaner, Peabody city council decided Monday to purchase a pallet of 24 containers of cleaner from Hillsboro. They will cost $151 a container. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)

A former country school moved to Marion in the 1940s still stands on Lincoln St. where it is used as a home. The former Bixler School, originally located three and a half miles northwest of Marion, was purchased by Lonnie and Betty Tidwell in the 1940s and moved to 110 N. Lincoln St. in Marion to serve as a home, which it does to this day. The Tidwells added an attached garage, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. (Read more: Marion County RECORD)